Kraken Donates $2M to Pro-Trump Crypto PACs in 2025 Power Move

Crypto exchange Kraken has pledged $2 million to pro-Trump crypto political action committees (PACs) in 2025, indicating the growing influence of digital asset firms in ￰2￱ a post on X, Co-CEO of Kraken Arjun Sethi noted that the exchange will donate $1 million to the Digital Freedom Fund (DFF) and another $1 million to venture firm Andreessen Horowitz’s advocacy initiative, the America First Digital (AFD). The decision, he said, reflects a broader strategy by crypto companies to shape regulatory frameworks and support candidates who back industry ￰3￱ fight for crypto in the United States is far from ￰4￱ is why Kraken is donating $1 million to @FreedomFundPAC and increasing our 2025 commitment to @a1stdigital to $1 ￰5￱ has made real ￰6￱ structure bills are ￰7￱ tone in… — Arjun Sethi (@arjunsethi) September 23, 2025 Notably, Kraken’s latest pledge adds to its earlier contributions to political action ￰8￱ January 2024, its parent company, Payward Inc., donated $750,000 to Fairshake ￰9￱ Digital Freedom Fund (DFF) PAC, launched in August with a $21 million Bitcoin donation from Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has already secured $1 million in contributions and focuses on advancing Trump’s crypto agenda within the ￰10￱ it, the America First Digital (AFD) PAC is led by Jason Thielman, former NRSC executive ￰11￱ him is Kristin Walker, ex-chief of staff to pro-crypto Senator Cynthia Lummis, who reintroduced the Bitcoin Act in March to allow the ￰12￱ reserve to buy $80 billion in ￰13￱ Pours Millions Into ￰14￱ to Defend Crypto Freedom Kraken is ramping up its political spending in Washington, positioning itself as a leading defender of crypto freedoms at a pivotal moment for the ￰15￱ Strategy Officer Sethi framed the exchange’s donations as a fight to preserve digital rights, stressing that the move is not partisan but aimed at protecting Americans’ ability to self-custody assets, transact outside surveillance-heavy systems, and develop decentralized infrastructure without state ￰16￱ also tied the debate to the origins of Bitcoin, calling the 2008 whitepaper a philosophical response to centralized control of financial ￰17￱ argued that crypto embodies rights to privacy and self-determination, aligning closely with American constitutional ￰18￱ to Sethi, today’s policy decisions will determine whether the ￰19￱ the next era of finance or cedes ground internationally.

Interestingly, these donations by Kraken come after crypto PACs proved influential in the 2024 election ￰20￱ and its affiliates raised more than $245 million to back nearly 300 pro-crypto lawmakers, contributing to what observers described as the most crypto-friendly Congress in U. S. history. Cryptocurrency-related Political Action Committees (PACs) and affiliated groups poured over $245 million into the 2024 election cycle. #Trump #Election ￰0￱ — ￰21￱ (@cryptonews) November 24, 2024 As a result, Fairshake PAC spent heavily to influence recent elections, aiding candidates in Arizona, Michigan, and West Virginia while helping unseat ￰22￱ Porter in ￰23￱ outcomes highlighted how crypto-funded PACs are reshaping electoral outcomes in both major parties.

Similarly, in Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno won his Senate race against incumbent Sherrod Brown with about $40 million in backing from pro-crypto groups. Notably, the Fairshake PAC has secured $78 million for the 2026 midterms and is funded by major crypto figures like Chris Larsen, the Winklevoss twins, and Jesse ￰24￱ Crypto Exchanges Influence Election Through Donations Other exchanges and industry leaders have also made significant political ￰25￱ committed $25 million to Fairshake to boost pro-crypto candidates ahead of the 2026 ￰26￱ Labs and Andreessen Horowitz are among the largest backers of the PAC ￰27￱ Winklevoss twins donated a combined $4.9 million, while payments company MoonPay gave $1 million to the Stand With Crypto ￰28￱ announced a second $25m donation to the crypto super Political Action Committee (PAC) Fairshake on ￰29￱ contribution supplements the $25m it provided to Fairshake last year. #Fairshake #cryptosuperpac ￰1￱ — ￰30￱ (@cryptonews) May 29, 2024 These donations illustrate how the crypto industry has shifted from reactive lobbying to proactive political engagement, channeling funds through PACs to influence legislative agendas and regulatory ￰31￱ may be the reason for positive regulatory insights in the ￰32￱ has advanced several bills to establish clearer rules for digital asset markets; these include the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act , among others.

Meanwhile, federal agencies continue to pursue enforcement actions against exchanges and restrict privacy ￰33￱ dual approach has created uncertainty for the sector, prompting companies like Kraken to step up their political involvement.